Wikimania 2021/Scholarships/Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania/General report

Introduction

This report highlights the whole processes involved in this project that brought 11 East African Wiki communities together by applying for the Wikimania scholarship fund through Wikimedia Tanzania. The main purpose for applying for this grant was raising awareness about Wikimania itself, other global Wikimedia conferences (such as WikiIndaba) as well as raising awareness about the ongoing global discussions on global topics within the Wikimedia movement (such as Movement charter, Regional hubs, Global Council) and other potential topics that were likely to be discussed during Wikimania in August 2021. Also, the application sought to create post Wikimania events in these local communities so as to create a platform for African Wikimedians to discuss topics that directly affect the Africa Wiki community.

How the project was generally organized

Communication and several meetups among the East African Wiki communities were carried out and hence there were an agreement to apply for the Wikimania scholarship fund (following the approval from the Wikimania grants team for Wikimedia Tanzania to apply on behalf of all other 10 Wiki communities)
After the grant arrived on 24th August 2021, communities were notified about the arrival of the fund and were asked to finalize sending us their bank details for fund transfer.
The whole fund transfer process was done between 25th August and 10th September 2021
Communities were asked to do their Post-Wikimania events up to the early dates of October to allow Wikimedia Tanzania to work on the general report, but practically, things went a bit different as some communities reported some changes to their former planned dates, hence they did a bit later than expected. (October being a preparation month for Wikiindaba 2021 added to this).
We did ask individual communities to use the general WM reporting templates for uniformity which helped to capture key info needed from each community.
We are worked to assist communities that needed help on reporting to produce their individual reports.
Time extension request for an end date on reporting this whole project was made and the new deadline was set to be 31st January 2021
Different steps involved in this whole process in terms of fund distribution and reporting process was carried out using this meta page: East African Wiki communities- Wikimania scholarship fund distribution

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

The main joint goal was for each individual community to host local Wikimania 2021 related events (mostly post-Wikimania events) for the purpose of raising awareness about Wikimedia global events and global topics. Below was our scope statement for this project: There have been several discussions on strengthening the cooperation and collaboration among its member communities from the East Africa Region and the neighboring countries. Following the call for Wikimania scholarship for WMF affiliates, and following the permission/call for one affiliate to apply on behalf of other communities/individuals that aren’t eligible for the Wikimania scholarship for the year 2021, East Africa Wiki communities held several discussions on how they can participate in one of the historical virtual Wikimania ever. The decision was made among the East Africa Wiki communities that Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania apply on behalf of the other communities, then the fund will be distributed to the individual communities based on the budget they submitted. Going in line with Wikimania 2021's theme which is 20 years of Wikipedia, this scholarship application seeks inclusion of the communities that might be left behind, hence to participate in this important global conference. Also, the application is done for the purpose of increasing participation in global recommendations, topics, initiatives and conversations that affects a large number of Wikimedians, that will help to create good environments for the ‘‘By 2030, Wikimedia will become the essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge, and anyone who shares our vision will be able to join us’’ statement to come true.

Hence; Generally, all 11 communities met their pre-set local goals that were aligned with the main goal scope explained above, hence we are generally very happy that we met our general goal and we are happy with how the project went.

Outcome

Generally 15+ events were done and 185+ People were supported to participate in post-Wikimania events through Some specific outcomes per each community can be seen Here

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

Below are some of the individual reports responses to this question with some sentence re-arrangement, spelling correction, anonymizing, and grammar correction for easier readability

What worked well?

That there was an increase in African Wikimedians participation in Wikimania conference
The fact that so many people did show interest and to actually register and participate in Wiki global events like Wikimania was something good.
Having a Hybrid (online and in-person event at the same time) for some communities was a great experience and we recommend this to happen even to the global Wikimania perspectives.
Availability of COVID 19 preventive measures such as face masks, keeping distance, and clean running water was helpful to do a safe in-person event.
Internet support was of great help for more participants to show up
Participants were able to explore more about the Wikimedia movement, introduced to sister projects to Wikipedia, and how best they can contribute to them.
Participating in Wikimania in Burundi for the first time was a pleasure to learn and show participants what others are doing in their communities.
I think the fact that we were able to have a virtual conference amidst Covid19.
Having the event physically with the participants
Everyone feels supported and encouraged.
Everyone contributes their thoughts
Being able to have enough funds to support the group with data bundles as well as support those who needed help with child care support services was a great advantage to retain people and have them fully engaged.
Community members being able to present what they captured during the Wikimania conference was an indication of activeness in following up what happens during Wiki conferences.
We also got to learn how we can contribute to the Wiki Sister projects like Wiki Loves Women, which gave a User group more exposure to what the SheSaid Campaign's about and how they can participate, which they did contribute to Wikiquote and the turnaround is impressive concerning the SheSaid contributions. So being part of Wikimania definitely created some traction and interest for the Usergroup to know which other areas they can contribute to in Wiki.
The reception of the various presentations made by Wiki In Africa team members was good as expected.
The weather condition during our local post Wikimania event was good, so we didn’t have internet problems and power cut issues hence participants were able to follow up on the event well.
The members of the community showed up and contributed during the program. The network at the space was never disturbing as in the other settlements
The participants came well prepared and with the right expectations. All necessary types of equipment were ready in advance and had no technical difficulties. Additionally, sending unlimited data packages to the participants enabled us to carry out our program without internet interruptions
The community members were able to attend the virtual Wikimania despite this being their first time experience with virtual conferences.
Coordination was good and the majority of the participants enjoyed Wikimania.
The google doc survey was such a good idea as it helped make an informed choice on scholarship allocation

What did not work so well?

The delay of the fund caused some participants to be not to attend the actual main Wikimania event.
Some local events didn’t happen on the exact dates that were planned, hence there was a delay of individual communities reports
Some participants were limited by the news conference that was absolutely new since they are used to zoom and google meet
The Wikimania programs were in different languages. Some of the participants had difficulties aligning themselves with the programs of their choice, but the problem was resolved each time due to the collaboration between the participants.
Sometimes participants were interested in more than one program on the same schedule and should only participate in one pro
It was a difficult and relatively long process to send the fund to some of the countries.
I think the fact that we received the funds late was a disadvantage because it would have been more interactive to participate and engage in real-time with the event proceedings. Those that did manage to attend had issues with network
Due to Covid19 and the retractions in my country, most people were skeptical about attending the after the event and meet up.
The delay of finances
Receiving the funds late was a disadvantage because it would have been more interactive as they participate and engage in real-time.
The WikiAfrica Hour: The experience pre-recording was great, though it lacked a "stay-tuned" transition to the Live session presented by Ceslause, which didn't help the initial audience to stay back for the Live session as they thought the presentation was entirely just the pre-recording.
The members didn't all attend The reporting was done late there was poor coordination between the attendees and the coordinator because of the hard to reach internet connectivity and the lack of enough community members
There was a miscommunication with the participants on the agenda on the two days. Since we didn't send the agenda in advance, some participants thought the second day was a repeat of the first and did not take part in the second day. similarly, some participants missed the first day of the event thinking to take part in the second
Some individual communities needed guidance in reporting hence the delay in reporting time
Some said the tool used during Wikimania REMO was generally good and interesting, however, they think more education on how to use it should be given if it were to be used in the future.
The final reporting to the Usergroup in Tanzania took more than usual since the reporting template was general, and was shared after community members had completed individual reports. This delayed making a fully complete summarised report.
Participants wished the Remo platform was mobile-friendly
Follow-up was made however sometimes we face a challenge and an untimely response from some of the community representatives dragged some time.
We face a challenge that not all communities know how reporting is done, we had to send a uniform reporting template to facilitate the reporting process.

What would you do differently next time?

Planning/organizing early for similar programs
Doing the grant application early
Host some more knowledge/capacity building on reporting skills to the new/emerging communities
Share the sample reporting templates with community members before a final report is made.
Early organizing of similar programs to yield timely and more effective results
Early grant application to make sure community members are supported at a convenient time.
Host some more knowledge/capacity building on reporting skills to the new/emerging communities.
More emphasis for community representatives to maintain communication to the organizing community (this helps to avoid communication breakdown when there are some variations to the local communities in relation to the initial plan)
More knowledge should be given about the tools to be used for conferences. The earlier the better as well as having a local tech guy to support local participants will help.
We have learned that a detailed agenda should be sent in advance. The agenda will also need to be catered to accommodate the different levels of skills that comprise the community. In future events, it would be best to have breakout sessions for some veterans to upgrade their skills and a different room for newbies to learn the basics.
Inform about the event earlier to the community members suggest a proper working time to be part of the programs enhance connectivity and coordination by reaching out physically to members
We already are doing better, which is proven by our WikiAfrica Hour WikiIndaba 2021 presentation, and the transition between the pre-recording and the Live session presented by Florence Devouard and Ceslause at the 2021 WikiConvention Francophone.
Receiving the funds earlier makes facilitation more easier, but overall it was a great experience for a first-time virtual conference.
To prepare our meeting earlier before any event
To have an actionable plan
Next time we will do our best to make Wikimania a success more than the previous one
There could be some training on how to use the conference app before the summit starts to avoid people getting misdirected and not being able to join sessions of their interests.

Finances

The grant spent per each community can be seen Here

About Remo tool

There could be some training on how to use the conference app before the summit starts to avoid people getting misdirected and not being able to join sessions of their interests.
Participants wished the Remo platform was mobile-friendly
I enjoyed the Technology and the safe space is created for participants. It was amazing to walk around in many rooms, the fact that it was not static.
I liked the flexibility of being able to choose what sessions to attend based on what suits you. I was happy to see a lot of participants from Kenya, which made me feel at home. However, for an Introvert like me, I struggled to connect with people.
The floor navigation in Remo was great and sessions showed how education is evolving. Youtube lifestream was such a great option that ensured you could watch sessions on your own time or in case you had trouble navigating Remo as I did in the first days.
I don't like the fact that Remo is not mobile friendly and I hope the company can work on this.
Wikimania 2021 was amazing. I traveled to Germany without a passport and visa; made great Connections with other Wikimedians across the globe including Wikiwomen in Red and even got a chance to host an edit-a-thon.
I really liked the option of moving floors

About Wikimania 2021 in general

According to the overall opinions we gathered from different communities, communities representatives, and individuals both during the local post Wikimania events and offline, Wikimania 2021 was a great conference with an exciting experience from both how it was organized, and ability to host many people, and the technology (tool) used was exciting to many.

General evaluation about this project

According to the testimonials from different Wikimedians, it was the first time most of the East African Wikimedians attended the Wikimania Conference (regardless of being in-person or virtual). Therefore; We generally state that this project has brought some impact to the African Wikimedians in terms of raising awareness about Wikimedia projects, Wikimedia global conferences and topics as well as increasing the connectivity/networking between African Wikimedians with other Wikimedians from all over the world.

General recommendations

There has to be some synchronization between the Wikimania team and local representatives/local Wikimania organizers on the number and contact of Wikimedians who register to attend Wikimania team and the local (will help local organizers to keep track of who has registered and know how to emphasize more/assist their members )
There should be a customized reporting template for Wikimania events
Hybrid events are helpful to make events feel more engaging and real
Any community that wants to organize should do it early for the grants to arrive in time
Availability of recorded sessions is super helpful

Conclusion

Wikimedia Tanzania offers special thanks to Wikimania COT for their support and approval of the project idea, WMF, Events & Grants team for funding this remarkable project for East African Wiki Communities. Also we extend our sincere thanks to all Wiki communities who took part in this projects, community represenatives and everyone who was involved in either way to make this project a success. Asanteni Sana!